Thursday, January 26, 2017

Blog Tour for RAW DEAL by Cherrie Lynn

Savannah's
brother was killed in a cage fight with Mike "Red Reaper"
Larson after a savage punch to the head.

When Mike shows
up at the funeral, he’s nothing like Savannah expected. Gone is the
fierce, brutal beast she’s seen in the cage. In his place is a
beautiful man torn with guilt, seeking forgiveness, and willing to do
anything to ease her pain.

Her family
doesn’t approve, but her heart doesn’t stand a chance.
Irresistibly drawn together, neither of them can deny the
intoxicating desire unleashed between them, turning their pain into
the most exquisite pleasure.

But every time
Mike steps into the cage, Savannah knows she could lose him too. She
can’t go through that again, but how can she let go of the one man
who sets her body and soul on fire?

Raw Deal is an awesome read! It's an emotional read that pulled me in right from the beginning. Savannah's brother, Tommy, dies during and MMA fight against Mike. She is grieve filled and Mike is harboring guilt. Mike shows up at Tommy's funeral. I would say that it was a poor choice on Mike's part but Savannah actually talks to him. Savannah is the only one on Tommy's side that will talk to Mike. Even in her time of grieve Savannah has a great head on her shoulders. I really loved her. There's a connection between her and Mike. They find a friendship in each other. They are both battling issues. It has a unique and different story. I really enjoyed reading it and I will definitely read more in this series.

4 Amazeballs Stars!

Author Bio

New York Times
and USA Today bestselling author CHERRIE LYNN has been a CPS
caseworker and a juvenile probation officer, but now she writes
contemporary and paranormal romance on the steamy side. She's also an
unabashed rock music enthusiast, and she is fond of hitting the road
with her husband to catch their favorite bands live. Cherrie lives in
East Texas.

How would you
describe Raw Deal using no more than 140 characters (a la Twitter)?

Undeniable passion
ignites between a fighter and the heartbroken sister of the man he
accidentally killed in the MMA cage.

Which scene
would you say was the hardest for you to write?

Definitely the final
fight. Any time I write something action-heavy, which isn’t very
often (unless it’s sex, haha), I find it terribly difficult and
tedious. “This happened and that happened and so on.” And then to
take it and make sure it doesn’t look like I found it
difficult and tedious presents its own set of challenges. I can only
hope I pulled it off, because I’m a terrible judge of my own work.

Where do you
get inspiration for the names of your characters?

Michael’s and
Savannah’s names simply came into my head and felt right. A lot of
times, however, I torture myself trying to find the perfect character
name, poring through baby name websites for inspiration. Some
characters are named by accident. For instance, when I first
introduced Brian Ross in Unleashed, I never planned for him to
have his own book. So I just sort of stuck a name on him. But he
turned out to be one of my most popular heroes (Rock Me), and
same goes for his best friend Ghost (Leave Me Breathless). So,
some come easily, some are like pulling teeth, and some are happy
accidents. :)

You’re
known for creating characters with a lot of depth and a full range
of truly human emotions. What experiences do you draw on to make
your characters feel so alive?

Oh, so many. But I
don’t think my experiences are so different from most other
people’s. We’ve all been heartbroken. We’ve all felt loss.
We’ve all felt joy. I just take those feelings and channel them as
best as I can. I also listen when other people talk about their own
feelings and experiences that might be different from mine, and I
listen to a lot of highly emotional music. But there are
things in my books that are drawn from personal experiences. The
eagle in Raw Deal, for example, was taken from something
similar that happened at my grandfather’s funeral a couple of years
ago. I like to think whenever I see an eagle now, it’s my grandpa
saying hello.

What do you
love most about Mike and Savannah?

I love Mike’s
fierce loyalty. I love Savannah’s mostly level-headed approach, the
way she’s able to give him a chance despite her emotions and her
heartbreak. I love the comfort they find in each other. They were
very easy characters to write. I’m not sure if that’s because I
was coming off my Ross Siblings series and invigorated by starting
something brand new, or if they simply resonated deeply with me (a
little of both, I suspect), but I *loved* writing their story. They
still give me butterflies!

How much
research did you have to do on MMA for the book? Are you a fan of
the sport?

I am! But my husband
is an even bigger fan. He was a great source of information, and I
probably pestered him to death. I looked up so much equipment on
Amazon that I kept getting ads for weeks—they obviously thought I
was a fighter. I watched fights on YouTube and I read articles. And
although they’re about boxing and not MMA, I’m a HUGE fan of the
Rocky movies. I figured the passion, motivation, hunger and
discipline would be the same for a fighter of either sport, so I drew
a lot of inspiration from that. And yes, a couple of Rocky
references pop up in the book! I couldn’t resist.

Did you always
want to be a writer?

For as long as I can
remember. As far back as third grade, you could find me writing
stories that my teachers would have me read to my class. Everyone
thought I was a little weird, I think. As I grew up, I wrote stories
for fun and for my friends. Almost all of those involved a romance,
and this trend continued as I would sneak into my mom’s stash of
steamy romance novels for inspiration. :) I sought publication as far
back as 2000, but that didn’t work out. It wasn’t until 2008 that
I tried again with what would become my first published book. It’s
been an amazing, lifelong journey!

Who are some of
your favorite writers/writers that inspire you?

I read all over the
place. Right now, I’m loving Alessandra Torre. She’s amazing. I’m
also so obsessed with the A Song of Ice and Fire series
that I’ve been reading them on repeat for two years now. I finish,
I start over. Such incredibly rich and effortless world-building.
(Hurry up with Winds of Winter, George!) I’m also loving
Sarah J. Maas. For my horror needs, I read Stephen King and Joe Hill.
I must admit, the idea of a straight-up horror romance
intrigues me…